President Clinton's Meeting with
Presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

President Clinton met today at the White House with President of
Estonia Lennart Meri, President of Latvia Guntis Ulmanis and
President of Lithuania Algirdas Brazauskas.

The President expressed America's support for the sovereignty,
independence and security of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. He
unserscored his admiration for the progress these nations are
making toward rejoining the Western democratic community. He
praised the courage and determination with which Estonians,
Latvians and Lithuanians, in their homelands, in America and
around the world, fought for and regained independence.

The four leaders discussed the impressive progress made by the
Baltic states in their free market and democratic transformation
and expressed determination to keep working together to support
this process. They discussed deepening security ties between
their countries and expressed satisfaction with their growing
cooperation through the Partnership for Peace, IFOR in Bosnia,
the President's Warsaw Initiative for security cooperation, the
Baltic Peacekeeping Battalion and other programs.

The four Presidents reaffirmed their commitment to the
integration of Europe's emerging democracies with the
Transatlantic community and its institutions. They underscored
that NATO's enlargement constitutes a key element of Europe's
integration and will increase security for Europe as a whole.
They expressed satisfaction that NATO enlargement remains on
track and will take place in a steady, deliberate and determined
manner over time, open to all of Europe's new democracies and
threatening no one.